Wrap-up of 2012

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Iím ready to sit down and start my 2013 blogs, but I felt the need to wrap up the previous year in a neat, tidy little package. At least I got this done before January is over. Here is my 2012 Brag List:

Graduated from the Level 1 Pole Dancing class back in March. I learned to shake my ample booty in all directions and to release my inner sexy.

Went indoor rock climbing for the first time last winter. Instead of feeling weak and unsuccessful, I felt strong, capable, and look forward to going back.

Survived a very clumsy, fall-ridden first half of 2012, as well as lots of summertime rehab. This girl falls over a bike, down stairs, on a trail; it was ridiculous. But I committed to getting better and my PT helped me get strong and back to athlete status.

Posted a PR at a sprint triathlon in September. I wasnít even going to do the race because I dislocated a rib in dance class (see earlier posts about clumsiness) and was in a lot of pain the two weeks before the tri. But I went for it and got my best swim time and best bike time ever. My run time was not a PR (thanks to the painful rib that made breathing hard) but my overall finish time was still 14 seconds faster than the previous time I raced this course.

Enjoyed 2-months of Crossfit without injuring myself. This was a real learning experience and it re-ignited my love of Olympic weight lifting. I stayed within my abilities, didnít try to compete during class and overdo things, and finished up my two months wanting more!

Started eating clean on October 29th and lost 10 lbs. and over 11 inches. I left 2012 weighing less than I did going into 2012. Now I'm sitting 6 lbs. above my lowest low in almost 20 years.

On a non-fitness-diet-weight-loss note; my family was blessed to enjoy plentiful vacations in 2012. We went to Melbourne Beach for a week in March, to a friendís farm in southwest Virginia in June, to a lake house in Hot Springs, Arkansas in August, back to the Virginia farm in October, and to my familyís mountain house in NC in November. Phew! Thatís a lot of driving! And in a related note, we missed meeting our savings goals for 2012. I think we need to dial it back a bit this year and stick with the budget a bit more.

As I look at the photos from our many vacations I am mostly feeling a mix of emotions from meh to horror. My sister-in-law is a wannabe photographer with a sweet camera. Since she was with us for two of our vacations and to document my triathlon, I got to see more of myself than I normally do, and it was eye-opening. I try not to cringe when I see those candid photos captured without my consent, but itís my gut response.

It is a sobering view of how everyone else sees me. Most of the time when I really SEE myself in the mirror itís when Iím looking nice (hair done, makeup on, fashionable clothes), and I pose in the mirror with stomach in (you know the drill). But to see myself on the beach in a bathing suit with no idea that I should be sucking my tummy in ---- sucker punch!

So Iím going to try my best to use those photos as fuel for my fire. When I want to break my clean eating streak, I will crack open one of those vacation photo books or open that computer file that contains some of the worst. That should get me headed in the right direction so that this yearís pics will make me a little more proud! And given the weight loss and inches loss Iíve had in the last two months of 2012, Iím on the right track.